Adfam at 40 – Joy Barlow: recognising women, children and substance use

“We’ve got to go for connectedness. We’ve really got to understand that no one set of professionals is going to work this. And working alongside and with the families, hearing the lived experience, hearing the voice. Now that is incredibly challenging, but I think it also has to be said that we’re not going to get anywhere if we don’t do that.”

Frank takes on the Speed Project

We are really excited to announce that ultra-marathon runner and endurance athlete Frank Bingham is taking on the Speed Project later this month to raise money for Adfam! The Speed Project if you didn’t know, is a gruelling 500km race through the desert from Los Angeles to Las Vegas! The race commences from Santa Monica…

Adfam at 40 – a conversation with Rose

“Just because someone is living with their parents at a given time, doesn’t mean they are necessarily prepared for them to stay there, and for them to financially support them. Services need to be asking not just the person with the issue but the family, ‘are you coping?’ and ‘how long can you cope for before it gets too much?’

Adfam at 40

2024 marks a special year for Adfam as we celebrate our 40th year. Established in 1984 by Simon Ann Dorin who could not find the support she needed to deal with her son’s heroin use. In its early years Adfam was run by volunteers using the vestry at the back of St George’s Church in…

End the Shame

Stigma is an issue that has impacted families affected by substance use for many years. In 2012 Adfam published Challenging stigma, a report which looked in detail at the stigma and prejudice faced by families. Among all else it found that, regardless of their own...

Why are so many children missing out on early help?

In January the Government released its annual adult substance misuse treatment statistics for 2021 – 2022. The figures mostly showed little change from the previous year and responses from Local Government, NHS providers and charities struggled to find anything new to...

A Mother’s Letter to Her Son

This is an unsent letter from a mother to her son called ‘I am not having it’, which has been kindly shared with us in the hope that it will help other mothers going through what she is going through. I am not having it ‘Whatever you say AND forever and a day, “I am...

Alcohol and Intimate Partner Relationships

This article was originally published in the April edition of DDN magazine on Monday 3rd April. The edition can be downloaded here (p13): https://www.drinkanddrugsnews.com/ddn-april-2023/ Unhealthy Relationship Drinking does not necessarily need to be frequent or...

‘Need’, by Kristy

Read the runner-up from Adfam’s Family Voices Competition 2022. Family Voices is an annual poetry and creative writing competition open to families affected by substance use to share their experiences. Needed. They needed it, but I always thought it was a choice....
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